CyberAngler

I am going to be fishing in Destin the 1st week of March, I would like to do offshore fishing with a charter, but I am told the fishing is not the best at this time, any advice would be helpful.

magfishing - Fishing in March can be excellent, It will be prime time for Cobia, the schools of Cobia start there migration onto the beaches from the deep Gulf water at this time of the year, and you don’t have to run 30 miles out to get them. But if an Offshore Charter is what your bound to, the Magnum Grouper are hungry this time of the year as there food source has been scarce through the winter. Do know that the Red Snapper season will still be closed until April 15 so no Snapper filets on this trip.

I do inshore and near shore charters so Cobia charters are high at the top of the list, but I will also be in search of the 10lb. Speck. March 1st opens the Speckled Trout season and it is the best time of the year to land a real wall hanger! And don’t forget about the sight fishing for Reds it can be awesome this time of the year also.

Hope this helps, and Good Catching!
Capt. Eddie

magfishing;

The first of march is a slower time for fishing the panhandle but don't despair. While the big wads of cobia and mackeral don' t usually show until the end of the month the grouper bite can be fantastic early on. Gags spawn that time of year and will bunch up on big rocks and wrecks. If you ( or your capt.) know where they are doing their thing a good catch is in the box. The Feds think the fishing is too good and have banned the possesion of grouper on board a commercial fishing vessel from Feb 15th to March 15th. I don't know 'bout all that but I have had some fine catches of grouper that time of the year. Be aware that weather can be "iffy". You would be best to try to schedule a window rather than a specific day. That time of the year is usually slow for charters so you should not have a problem finding a capt. to work with you- I only have 5 days booked in March and only 5 left open in April- Everybody wants to cobia fish and red snapper open the 15th of April so our "season" starts the end of March.

Destin has the largest charter fleet in the Gulf so you got lots to choose from. Naturally I'm prejudiced towards my "Dead Fish" but I usually launch from Grayton Beach, abot 20 miles East of Destin proper.

Capt. Larry Pentel

It looks like we will be in Destin the week of the 3rd of March to the 10th, so is anything happing yet?

Magfish, still a little to early tell what the water temp will be. We are waiting on the magic #67 degree mark. Check back in a week or so and we will see what is going on then!
Capt. Eddie